OTTAWA - The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) was pleased with announcements on April 4 by the Government of Canada under the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program as well as its commitment to market development and taller wood buildings.
Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver announced $19.5 million dollars in IFIT funding towards five projects worth a total of $70 million. He also announced $10.9 million for the Expanding Markets Opportunities Program.
"It is crucial to have the government as a partner to develop first commercial demonstrations of promising technologies for forest products companies. This will help us reach our Vision2020 goal of producing an additional $20 billion in economic activity from new products and diversified markets by the end of the decade," said the president and CEO of FPAC, David Lindsay.
Under IFIT, Millar Western Forest Products of Whitecourt Alberta will get $6.75 million to help develop a waste-to-energy technology that will generate green energy from pulp mill effluent. Tolko Industries in Meadow Lake Saskatchewan will get $4.9 million as part of its goal to become the first facility in North America to produce specialty and commodity-oriented strand board on one production line, while enhancing quality and performance of the final product.
FPAC also applauds the government for reiterating its commitment to be a world leader in taller wood buildings.
FPAC provides a voice for Canada's wood, pulp, and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs. The $57-billion-a-year forest products industry represents two per cent of Canada's GDP and is one of Canada's largest employers, operating in hundreds of communities and providing 230,000 direct jobs across the country.